Four days after sprinting to his first win of the season, Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) was again in the mix in the final stage of the Tour of Oman. Having been boxed in during the sprint, he took 4th and his team leaves the Middle East highly satisfied after a week that also brought an overall fourth place for Joaquim Rodriguez.
Yesterday the Tour of Oman came to a close with the 6th stage from As Sifah to Matrah Corniche. As expected, the final stage was decided in a bunch sprint.
Katusha rider Alexander Kristoff fought for the win in the sprint but finished 4th just behind the stage winner Andre Greipel from Lotto-Belisol, Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.Fr) and San Bennett from NetApp-Endura, who finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
"It was not an easy stage. Ithe first part of the route there were a lot of short, steep climbs, while the second part was pretty speedy," he said. "In the finish, supported by the team, I was able to come to the front. But after that I was boxed in and was forced to start my sprint again. So I missed some speed, but in general, I am satisfied with the result. I feel good form ahead of the next races."
In the general classification, Christopher Froome from Sky took the overall victory. Second place went to Tejay Van Garderen from BMC (+0.26), while Rigoberto Uran from Omega Pharma-Quick Step completed the podium (+0.31).
Katusha’s leader Joaquim Rodriguez took 4th place in the final classification, 48-seconds behind the winner. Katusha Team rider Daniel Moreno was 10th (+1.34).
- I think that we can be satisfied how the race has unfolded for Katusha Team," sports director Torsten Schmidt says. "We took our first victory of the season, and were very close to the podium. The team was very united and has shown itself as fully prepared for the season. The fourth place of Joaquim Rodriguez is a good result, which says our leader is on the right way in his preparation for the most important races in the season."
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